Time Out for the Electoral College
American citizens are naïve of the function of the Electoral College because they believe in error that they directly elect the President and Vice President when in fact the “Electors” representing the candidates cast the Electoral College votes.
The Electoral College
Two hundred years ago, the Framers of the Constitution outlined the Electoral College when they disagreed on who should elect the president, and disagreed on the role of the people, the congress, and the states in the political process. Some favored the direct vote while others lacked confidence in the people to vote. The compromise became what is now the Electoral College. In the two hundred year history of the Electoral College, many have proposed to eliminate it as the method of electing Presidents and Vice Presidents. Therefore, the question is “What necessitates the continuance of the Electoral College as the method of electing Presidents and Vice Presidents and should it be eliminated?”
The Electoral College is the process in which we vote for the Presidents and Vice Presidents in America. Most Americans are unaware of the role of the Electoral College maybe because they erroneously believe that they directly elect the president and vice president. What they are doing however, when they vote to elect the president and the vice president, is voting for officials known as “electors ” who are assigned to every presidential candidate. These electors have only one responsibility and that being to select the president and vice president. When the candidate wins the popular vote in the ...
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...the American people will continue to deal with the as is system of the Electoral College and all the problems we feel it presents.
References
Dell K., Time Election (2004). The Electoral College Explained. Retrieved December 5, 2005 from, http://www.time.com/time/election2004/article/0,18471,749496,00.html
Leip, D., (2003). The Electoral College. Retrieved December 5, 2005 from, http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_procon.php
Magleby, D., O’Brien, D., Light, P., Burns, J., Peltason, J., & Cronin, T. sixth edition (2005) Government by the People. The Electoral College (pg.186). Pearson: Prentice Hall©2006
Rock the Vote, (2005). Election 101, the General Election. Retrieved December 5, 2005 from http://www.rockthevote.com/rtv_elections_101_general.php
Voting is at the center of every democratic system. In america, it is the system in which a president is elected into office, and people express their opinion. Many people walk into the voting booth with the thought that every vote counts, and that their vote might be the one that matters above all else. But in reality, America’s voting system is old and flawed in many ways. Electoral College is a commonly used term on the topic of elections but few people actually know how it works.
If you think on the Election Day, you just voted for US president, than you are mistaken, just like millions of Americans who hope their votes would pick next president. When voting for President, we actually vote for state electors who hold Electoral votes. Electoral votes are the votes that decide victory of candidate in election. This Electoral College System has limited democracy to people in major three ways. Electoral college holds an ability to alter result of Election over popular votes, discriminates candidates to campaign in certain states not others, and creates high voter turnouts.
The Electoral College is an outdated and unrealistic arrangement that caters to eighteenth century federalist America in a way that is detrimental to modern democracy. The electoral college gives too much power to the government, overlooks equal representation, and creates loopholes that do not serve to help America thrive.
The United States of America is often touted as the guiding beacon of democracy for the entirety of the modern world. In spite of this tremendous responsibility the political system of the United States retains some aspects which upon examination appear to be significantly undemocratic. Perhaps the most perplexing and oft misunderstood of these establishments is the process of electing the president and the institution known as the Electoral College. The puzzle of the Electoral College presents the American people with a unique conundrum as the mark of any true democracy is the citizens’ ability to elect their own ruling officials. Unfortunately, the Electoral College system dilutes this essential capacity by introducing an election by
Although much of the nation believes that the Electoral College should be kept, there are many reasons as to why the Electoral College should be abolished. First off, the fact that there is a possibility that the popular vote of the citizens is not really taken into consideration when it comes down to electing a president that will rule over them. Although the citizens are allowed to cast a vote in favor of the particular candidate that they wish to elect, but it is not necessary that the electoral vote reflects the votes casted by majority of the population of that state. As a result of the unjust representation of the people’s votes, which adds to the many reason as why the Electoral College should be abolished, the voter turnout has been decreasing as an increasing amount of the citizens realize that their votes doesn’t actually matter. Even though the Electoral College will still be in place for a decent amount of the future, if I were to devise a new way to elect the President and the Vice President of the United States of America I was leave it to direct popular vote by the citizens which the Electors must be obliged to cast their vote corresponding to the popular vote of the citizens. Also, the distribution of electors between states should be increasingly equal. This way the United States of America can leave up to its democratic name and the citizens of the
In this paper four subjects on the Electoral College will be addressed. These four subjects are: What is the Electoral College? Why did the founding fathers create the Electoral College? What are some major criticisms of the Electoral College? Should we keep it? Before these questions are addressed it should be noted that many people were not aware of the existence of the Electoral College, perhaps even the Author of this paper.
The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.
The author argues that without the use of an Electoral College that every vote by an American citizen would still create a big outcome in the election for a candidate. Instead of telling electors who citizens wished to cast their vote for, citizens would be able to really vote for the candidate in which they feel will be most effective for the country. The author believes that the Electoral College has soiled our elections and that we should make a better way in which we can make the elections more efficient and equal for each and every citizen in
When the Framers were drafting the presidential selection procedure of the Constitution in 1787, they presented an artful compromise to the issue of direct election. With the new country spanning thousands of miles along the Atlantic coast and barely connected by transportation or communication, it was impractical if not impossible to distribute information widely enough for every citizen to make an informed choice (Kimberling). In a direct election, this lack of knowledge about candidates living in other states would inevitably result in citizens voting for the candidate they knew the most about. Because the larger states have considerable more voters, presidents would be elected not for their political beliefs, but for their place of residence. Given the inability to spread information extensively, the Framers compromised by adopting the idea of representation. The people up and down the country would vote for local delegates with whom they were familiar with. These electors would then elect a president “pre-eminent for ability and virtue” (Hamilton 333). By devising the Electoral College, the Framers ensured th...
As the United States of America gets older, so does the presidential election voting system. The argument to change this method of voting has been becoming more and more popular as the years go on. It has been said that the Framers of the Constitution came up with this method because of the bad transportation, communication, and they feared the public’s intelligence was not suitable for choosing the President of the United States. Others say that the Framers made this method because they feared that the public did not receive sufficient information about candidates outside of their state to make such a decision based on direct popular vote. My research on this controversial issue of politics will look into the factors into why the Electoral College exists and if it is possibly outdated for today’s society. It will look into the pros and cons of this voting system, and it will explore the alternative methods of voting such as the Direct Popular vote. Many scholarly authors have gathered research to prove that this voting system is outdated and it does not accurately represent the national popular will. Many U.S. citizens value their vote because they only get one to cast towards the candidate of their choice in the presidential election. Based on the Electoral College system their vote may possibly not be represented. Because of today’s society in the U.S. the Electoral College should be abolished because it is not necessary to use a middle-man to choose our president for us. It is a vote by the people, all of us having one voice, one vote.
Since the fiasco that was the Presidential Election in the year 2000, many Americans have been calling for a reform of the Electoral College. Most of these people were Gore supporters; disillusioned by the fact that Bush won the office of the President while, in fact, he lost the popular vote. The American people did not elect George W. Bush; the Electoral College did.
The Electoral College is the name for the electors who nominally choose the president and vice president of the United States. Each of the states receives a certain number of electors, which is determined by the total number of senators and representatives it sends to the U.S. Congress. Therefore, each state has at least 3 electors. The Electoral College was devised by the Framers of the Constitution as a procedure to elect the president by the people, at least indirectly. The framers came up with this procedure for many reasons. Such reasons included the lack of information to make a good choice by the people and it was also a way to control the power of the people. Although the Electoral College is still used today, it has undergone several changes and still contains certain weaknesses.
Beginning in America in 1787, the Electoral College was originally created during the Constitutional Convention to help make a fair way for the president to be elected without giving too much power to either the national government or individual states. Over the years, the Electoral College has undergone a few changes in attempt to make it more fair, but there is still much debate about whether or not the Electoral College is the most effective way to elect a president. Some people believe that the Electoral College does an excellent job of creating an equal distribution of votes across all ethnicities and social classes of America. In contrast, others think that the Electoral College does not give an accurate portrayal of the popular opinion of Americans, believing that the Electoral College is no longer necessary for the election process in our society. The issue of whether or not the Electoral College should be a part of our government is important to our society, because it has had a dramatic effect on who is elected as president. Several times in American history a potential presidential candidate has obtained the presidential office only because of the Electoral College, despite the fact that they lost the popular vote. Therefore, the Electoral College should be removed from the government and replaced with an election system based on the popular vote.
The Electoral College has been the favored method by the United States to elect the president for many years. When the College was first created in 1787 it was seen as an efficient and reliable way to vote the president into office. It has been more than 2 centuries since this method of electing was chosen and many things have changed in U.S. society. The Electoral College is failing to keep up with these advancements in society and a new method must be chosen soon.
What is the electoral college? Why was it created? Should it be banned? The Pros and Cons. All of these questions are important towards the electoral college because there are people in the world who doesn’t understand what the electoral college is or even what it does. The books definition of the electoral college is the name given to the body of representatives elected by voters in each state to elect the president and vice president. I know for myself I thought the electoral college was just a vote from cities with college in them so they would take the college students vote. It seemed logical to me at the moment until I enrolled into American Government and it gave me more of an insight on the electoral college and how it is used.